Obligatory Blog Entry: IKEA
Holly and I went to check out the new IKEA this past Saturday. We figured — actually, I figured, and she knew better — the crowds would have died down enough for us to be able to actually see the merchandise by then. I was wrong, of course, but we did get to catch a glimpse of a few items here and there.
Long before this IKEA opened, neither I nor Holly could figure out what all the hype was about. There’s no good reason why cheap chic furniture should be so great that crowds in London and Saudi Arabia are willing to die for it on opening day. After all, you can buy a lot of this same stuff at the big box retailers we already have at the same price — with the added bonus that you can actually pronounce the names of the furniture you’re buying.
My favorite feature of the store was the “Living in xxx square feet” areas, where xxx was some number too low for most red-blooded Americans to think about. The point of these mock-ups was to allow you to imagine yourself living in a sub-500-square-foot apartment with more amenities than you’ll ever need. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll ever need shampoo and conditioner dispensers in my shower. The real effect of these mock-ups, with so many people crammed in there, was to imagine yourself at a party in someone else’s sub-500-square-foot apartment.
My least favorite feature of the store was the architecture. Ultimately, it’s still a big box retailer, and it was built in the same form and mold as your standard suburban sap of blight. Despite its location at the edge of Atlantic Station, the only reasonable way to get there is to drive. Then again, the most reasonable way to get to Atlantic Station is to drive. It’s really a shame because Atlantic Station could have been a true urban neighborhood where its residents don’t have to live in service to the car. IKEA could have been an example for other big box retailers to follow. Then, I would have been more willing to shell out some dough.
July 19th, 2005 at 8:10 am
Are you referring to the residents of Atlantic Station itself or residents of other parts of Atlanta? As far as I can tell, the only reasonable way to get to IKEA from within Atlantic Station is to walk. That’s what we’ve been doing. Granted, my wife and I have only been residents for four days, but so far, I wouldn’t dream of getting my car out of the deck just to drive it to IKEA, find a parking space, etc. And in the fall, when the retail shops open, we’ll walk to those… When the MARTA shuttle over to Arts Center is active, Heather will take it to work. We’ll walk to Publix, the movies, and our gym because it’s a hell of a lot more convenient than driving.
What makes you say the residents of Atlantic Station still live in service to their cars? The fact that other people have to drive to get there?
I was a little disappointed in the IKEA as well. The Chicago IKEA is a much nicer, better-designed building, with a much more relaxed feel. (Maybe only because it’s not brand new) Our IKEA feels not unlike being trapped in a stampede of angry cattle running loose in a Swedish flea market.
July 19th, 2005 at 10:11 am
Certainly, I hope you’re right, and I hope I’m wrong
As much as the word out in the press is that Atlantic Station is “not perfect, but better than what we have now,” my hope is there are plenty others like yourself, looking forward to the MARTA shuttle, and will use it enough to keep that route from getting cut in the future.
July 22nd, 2005 at 11:39 am
I don’t live near Atlantic Station, I live in East Atlanta, so I never expected to enjoy the walking to and from privileges of Atlantic Station residents. And, I thought that they created Atlantic Station as kind of a live-in work-in environment. But what about the people that want to come and check it out? I feel like that wasn’t considered ENOUGH, especially when it comes to IKEA. I think that IKEA got the message about it being the only one in the southeast; the store is huge. BUT, there is not enough parking to handle it. AND the roads to get to IKEA (17th… which was closed the other day when I was trying to get there; and Northside drive) are not really equipped to handle the amount of traffic both IKEA and Atlantic station will generate. I hope that it gets better when the “new” wears off, and everyone has fully decorated their homes with Swedish furniture.
July 22nd, 2005 at 1:25 pm
The MARTA shuttle is good, to be sure… but what would be better is if there were a transit station centrally located within Atlanta Station (it does have “station” in its name, after all). Maybe as part of the Belt Line Project..?
December 15th, 2005 at 4:43 pm
My husband and I have lived in Atlantic Station for over a year now and we reguarly ride the Atlantic Station shuttle which runs through the community and to the Arts Center MARTA Station. If you also look at the MARTA Inner Core Study, there is a hybrid of the Beltline and C-Loop which shows transit running through Atlantic Station…now you know.